Wild TurkeyJimmy Russell, who has worked for the Wild Turkey distillery since he was a teenager, says the role of master distiller is ensure that each bottle of bourbon is as fine as the next.

Jimmy Russell grew up five miles from the Wild Turkey Bourbon Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ky. His father worked there. His grandfather worked there. When Russell was 19 years old, he went to work at the distillery, too. That was Sept. 10, 1954.

By the late 1960s, Russell had been promoted to master distiller. For the last four decades, his nose and his taste buds have decided what goes into every bottle of Wild Turkey.

"We're looking for bold, good body and full flavor, " Russell says. "The caramel, the vanilla, the sweetness."

Raise a glass of the gold-tinged bourbon to your mouth, and a blast of heat hits your nose before you even take a taste. Wild Turkey is still bottled at 101 proof, over 50 percent alcohol; most other bourbons are now 80 to 90 proof. The first sip seems like a fireball with a butterscotch edge, lighting up the mouth and leaving a lingering warmth. A splash of water tames the flames and lets the sweetness sneak past the heat.

"We make one of the best bourbons in the world, " Russell says, "but my main concern is if you buy a bottle today or six years from now it tastes the same." Since he was a teenager, Russell has spent his days making sure that Wild Turkey doesn't change.

Buffalo TraceHarlen Wheatley

Next week, the American Whiskey Fest, sponsored by the Bourbon House, brings together four master distillers -- Russell, Jeff Arnett of Jack Daniel's, Chris Morris of Woodford Reserve and Harlen Wheatley of Buffalo Trace -- to explore the craft and culture of American whiskey.

On Wednesday, University of New Orleans professor David Beriss, an anthropologist and food scholar, leads a discussion with the distillers at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. That night, each distiller hosts a four-course dinner of dishes created to pair with whiskey cocktails. On Thursday, the four distillers will give a guided tasting of their whiskeys at the Bourbon House.

The natural products that give Wild Turkey its flavor vary from season to season, but Russell makes sure the bourbon doesn't. "We check everything here, " he says.

He examines the corn, which by law makes up at least 51 percent of the "grain bill, " the rye and the malted barley. He takes apart the white oak aging barrels built in Missouri to see the level of char and the quality of the wood. And he controls the speed of aging by shuffling the 20,000 barrels in each of the seven-story, ironclad warehouses. Barrels closer to the ground age slower. Closer to the roof, where temperatures climb higher than 100 degrees in the Kentucky summer, the bourbon pushes deeper into the barrel and absorbs more of the charred wood's flavor of toasted vanilla.

Russell was taught how to distill by Bill Hughes, the second master distiller at Wild Turkey. Today, most American distillers still learn to make whiskey from a mentor. Even Arnett, an industrial engineer who took over as Jack Daniel's master distiller last April, mastered the craft on the job.

"The book can only take you so far, " Arnett says. "You have to marry the art with the science."

Jack Daniel'sJeff Arnett

When Russell started, there were more mentors to teach the next generation of distillers. "There was a lot of us. I think it was about 48 bourbon distillers operating in Kentucky. Now we're down to seven, " he says, noting that bigger companies bought up the smaller distillers. In 1980, Wild Turkey was bought by the French company Pernod Ricard.

Many bourbon brands also disappeared over the last 30 years as Americans abandoned brown liquors for blander drinks.

"For a while the bartending trade got a little lazy and moved towards easier things to drink, " says Morris of Woodford Reserve, "such as sweeter fruit juices with a vodka."

Woodford ReserveChris Morris

Bourbon distillers lowered the proof of their flagship whiskeys, literally watering down their spirits, to save money and bow to the taste for lighter drinks. Wild Turkey never did and, according to Russell, the 101-proof bourbon never suffered a decrease in sales.

"When I started in the business all bourbon was bottled at 100 proof. It was called bottled in bond, " he says. "That was always the top level that everybody thought was the best tasting bourbon."

In recent years, the interest in classic cocktails has sent bartenders back to bolder spirits like bourbon and rye whiskey. Just as diners demand bigger flavors, serious drinkers are doing the same. And as people seek out indigenous ingredients, interest is again growing in bourbon, which Russell calls "the only true American spirit that was actually developed in the United States."

Distilleries have responded with new "small batch" brands and single-barrel bourbons with distinctive and often more complex tastes. Since the early 1990s, Wild Turkey has introduced Rare Breed, a 108.4 proof small batch bourbon; Kentucky Spirit, a single-barrel bourbon; and Russell's Reserve, a 10-year-old bourbon. Other distillers are experimenting with bourbons that include more spicy rye or are finished in wine barrels to add, for example, a merlot or chardonnay flavor.

"They all make good bourbons, " Russell says, "but I basically just drink Wild Turkey."

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American Whiskey Fest

What: A panel discussion at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum with the master distillers of Jack Daniel's, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve ($10). A chance to dine with each distiller at cocktail-paired dinners at the Bourbon House, Palace Cafe, Mr. B's Bistro and Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse ($85 including tax and tip). And a guided tasting with the distillers, along with an auction at the Bourbon House to benefit the Southern Food and Beverage Museum ($45).

When: Wednesday, with a panel discussion at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and dinners at 6:30. On Thursday there's a guided discussion and auction from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.